50317 Fish Hatchery Road
Waterville, MN 56096-0086
507-362-4223
[email protected]
Anglers who fish in Le Sueur, Rice, Steele, Blue Earth, Dodge, Freeborn, Mower, Faribault and Waseca counties benefit from the management, habitat and oversight work of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' Waterville area fisheries staff.
Area Fisheries Supervisor Craig Soupir and a staff of six full-time and one part-time employee manage 120 fishing lakes and 107 rivers and streams. These waters include popular fishing destina
tions such as the Cannon River Chain of Lakes, Madison Lake and Washington Lake. Each is popular for abundant panfish, largemouth bass, walleye and northern pike.
- What we do
At work for you
A Waterville area fisheries biologist releasing fry.
- Collecting and incubating up to 5 million northern pike eggs, hatching the eggs and holding fry to swim-up stage. Northern pike fry are stocked into Waterville Area lakes and rearing ponds and several lakes in the Windom and Hutchinson area.
- Up to 75 percent of all muskellunge stocked in Minnesota pass through Waterville hatching and rearing operations at some life stage. Muskellunge are stocked in French Lake in the Waterville area as well as transported to lakes and rivers throughout the state.
- Incubating 65 million walleye eggs and hatching 30 to 45 million walleye fry. Walleye of various life stages are stocked in Waterville area lakes and rearing ponds.
- Managing and maintaining displays at seven county fairs during July and August, including the Steele County Fair which is one of the largest in the state.
- Monitoring winter dissolved oxygen in up to 40 lakes and restocking lakes significantly impacted by winterkill using various fish species not produced at the hatchery including bluegill, black crappie, largemouth bass and yellow perch.
- Developing and revising fisheries management plans for 120 lakes, 107 rivers and streams and nearly 2,000 acres of Aquatic Management Areas ranging in size from less than one acre to 300 acres covering 10 miles of shoreline on 27 lakes.
- Area highlights
Information
- Education
- Fisheries long-term monitoring program
- Lake and stream survey schedule for 2017
- Newsletter (updated 11/8/18)
- Fishing outlook (updated 4/25/18)
- Experimental & special regulations in the Waterville area
- Visit LakeFinder for stocking and survey information
- Waterville area trout stocking schedule for 2017
- Waterville state fish hatchery history and fish management
- Producing northern pike in the Waterville hatchery (Click on the image below to watch a video on northern pike production!)
- Where to fish
- Winterkill and dissolved oxygen monitoring
- Minnesota's new northern pike zones
Useful links
- Aquatic invasive species; see also Statewide invasive carp update
- Aquatic plant management
- Conservation officer locator
- Fish diseases
- Fishing licenses
- Fishing regulations
- Fishing tournament information
- Toolbox regulation summaries
- Area staff
Contact our Waterville staff
Name
Position
Phone
Email
Craig Soupir Area supervisor 507-362-4223, Ext. 222 [email protected] Brandon Eder Assistant area supervisor 507-362-4223, Ext. 225 [email protected] Andrew Scholten Fisheries specialist - hatchery 507-362-4223, Ext. 231 [email protected] Skyler Wigen Fisheries specialist 507-362-4223, Ext. 224 [email protected] Tyler Fellows Fisheries specialist 507-362-4223, Ext. 223 [email protected] Peter Muggli Fishereis techniian 507-362-4223, Ext. 232 [email protected] Amy Roemhildt Office administrative specialist 507-362-4223, Ext. 221 [email protected] Steve Shroyer Fisheries research scientist 507-362-4223, Ext. 227 [email protected] Dale Logsdon Fisheries research biologist 507-362-4223, Ext. 228 [email protected]